Golden Dreams
by GermanSheppies
Summary: USUK -Arthur's POV-Arthur is forced by his parents to move to a new state, and more importantly he now lives next to an annoying boy named Alfred Jones. But after Alfred saves Arthur from some bullies, Arthur isn't sure what he thinks of the American. Their relationship skyrockets into love, but that's not the best thing to happen, especially while trying to fit into high school.
1. Chapter 1

He was crying.

I was crying too.

My best friend for five years stood in front of me, small tears bubbling up in his eyes. Never had I seen him cry, he'd seen me cry plenty, but this was new. I don't like new, I don't like change. My parents say the move will be better but I beg to a differ.

Kiku was supposed to come with me to middle school. We were supposed to be best friends and study partners, artist pals, and take care of eachother. He could be the only one I liked in this whole world. He was different from all of those 'suffering artists' he was calm and drew what he wanted, emotion behind it or not. Kiku was amazing, and here I am being stripped from him. He's my whole life. My whole elementary school was Kiku, Kiku, Kiku, and all Kiku. We would go swimming together and go out to ice cream, we would draw and hide in my treehouse.

My parents said i'll see him again, that we'll make sure to visit Albany every once a month. That's a lie though, it has to be a lie. The only reason I want to come back is for Kiku and only Kiku. Even if we do see him every month we'll grow apart, the distance will be to hard. I'll try though, i'll try to stay loyal to him no matter what. We're, or, we were, neighbors. I can't go too long without him being right next door.

I wish he could come with me. Maybe we can throw him in the back of the moving van and take him with us to Boston. He could live with me in secret.

Even though I'm quickly thinking of a plan to run away with him, I know i'm not actually going to do it. My twelve-year-old mind is running like crazy, desperate to keep my best friend.

Kiku's brown eyes looked over mine. He wore a white t-shirt with a orange sun on it, his arms decorated in hot topic bracelets, his longish hair tied back into a short ponytail. It's hot, but I don't care. I don't care that the tears are quickly drying to my cheeks and starting to itch, I don't care that a big gust of hot wind just messed up my hair completely, I care about him. What if something happens to him, what if something happens to me?

I still remember the first day we met. The two exchange students going into first grade together, thats what brought us close. I, the shy Brit and him, a shy asian. We fit perfectly together. I protected him like he was my brother, and he protected me. I taught him to swim, and he taught me to draw. One day in second grade we were called some swear in the minds of little kids and that kid and I later had a detention. Kiku cut the bottom of a girls skirt with scissors in fourth grade for telling someone a rumour about me. I came out of my shell a lot that year, I was still rather quiet, but I talked. I talked to everyone, nothing crazy, just small 'hellos' to people who respected me. And I guess I got more of a temper too, I got frustrated easily at things (but I was polite about it). The people I didn't mind though, they meant nothing.

Kiku meant everything.

A small, dull green box rested in one of his hands. I'm guessing it was for me, but I wasn't very curious about it. I didn't want the damn present, I wanted him.

Kiku sighed and wiped an eye, taking a step forward. I took out a harsh sigh, as well, more of a shattered breath then anything, I was fighting to keep whimpers from coming out of my lips. Kiku took my hand, opened up my curled, limp fingers and put the box it in.

I looked down at it, and slowly my fingers tightly curled around the small box. I felt my lips form into a broken smile as I let out a 'thank you.' I cared that he got me something. Not that I got something, that he gave it to me. I'm starting to feel bad because I never gave him anything.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't get you anyt-!" My voice cracked and plummeted, a mix of puberty and crying. I covered my quivering lips from what sounded like a hiccup, but was really a voice crack mixed with a whimper. Kiku's eyebrows lifted up in what was i'm guessing a expression of empathy.

And he hugged me. We don't hug very often, but we hugged. And it was a tight hug, and a heated gross warm hug because of the humidity, but it was good. Good because it was him, good because this was the last chance I had to say or do anything meaningful. My fingers squeezed at his t-shirt and my eyes started to water heavily, my lips curving into a broken frown.

"Arthur, it's okay," Kiku said, his usually smooth voice broken up into cracks. I shook my head.

"It's not okay."

"You're right, i'm going to miss you, but you'll get around just fine in Northampton," Kiku patted my back before squeezing me tightly.

"I don't want to get around just fine, I don't want to go," My lips started to drip with spit, which I immediately wiped off with my tongue. My twelve-year-old mind wasn't able to come up and reach some sadness inside me, it just all hit me at once. And thats what hurts. That I don't know any other reason why I'm so sad, I just know i'm sad.

"Be strong, Arthur."

"I don't want to be strong," I shook my head again, a long whimper coming from my lips. "I don't want to leave. I want to stay here with you!"

"I know, me too," At this point Kiku's voice cracked and he started to cry. He was crying before, yes, but this was real crying. This was my form of crying. This was watching 'Marley and me' crying. Real crying, real, hard sobs. And it hurt to hear him cry, and too feel his shoulders hunch and his chest rising and falling sharply. I wanted to comfort him somehow, but I was too was doing the same thing.

It felt like hours. It felt like hours of hearing Kiku's sobs in my ear that caused my stomach to drop. It felt like hours because my tears had soaked through his t-shirt. I wanted it to end but I didn't. Because if it did end, I would have to leave him. But if it didn't, I would hear Kiku crying and not being able to help him. He was the one person who helped me through the insults of being British, the one who stood up for me. I was the only one who stood up for him as well. After we found out that I was moving, I made some kid's eye bleed for talking about Kiku. I'm normally not that aggressive, i'm not really aggressive at all unless i'm pushed very hard. But with the knowledge that I would be moving, I terrified that kid. His name was John, he usually wore something with the color red on it. He liked red. Which is ironic because I damaged his eye, and it was bleeding.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It wasn't Kiku's hand, too big to be Kiku's hand. Right there I felt my stomach turn like I was going to throw up. I didn't want to open my eyes, I just stood frozen, clutching to him.

Is it strange to say I feel adult? The worse kind of adult with no power, but adult. Like, the kids in my school still battle each other with pokemon stuffies. We still get lollies at the doctors office. But right now, I feel like an adult going through a hard, life changing thing. Like I suddenly had to make myself seem bigger, that I had no other choice to act bigger in this situation.

"Arthur," It was the voice of my step-dad. Smooth, but had a melancholy tint. I heard my mom whimper. She was sad for me, they were sad for me, but not sad enough. They were as selfish as stripping me away from my best friend for a stupid job out in boston. Aren't I more important than that?

Kiku backed away from me. He hid his face with a hand while wiping his eyes, i'm guessing he was embarrassed by my parents seeing him cry. Kiku's eyes were bright red and puffy, and he bit on his lip to stop it from pouting. It hurt to see him hold back like that. I knew it wasn't because I was there but my parents were.

"Arthur," My dad repeated my name. I looked up at him, tears still sliding down my hot cheeks. My dad took a heavy sigh, "We, we have to go."

"I don't want too," I muttered, my voice slurred and not very recognisable. I looked down away from my dad. My dad was a kind man, and i'm sure he knew that I was hurting. He wouldn't yell, but I still felt nervous at the moment with him.

"I'm sorry, Artie, but we gotta go."

"Please, I don't want too. I have everything here, I have Kiku here."

"I know."

"He's my best friend, dad!"

"I know."

"Stop saying that!" My voice cracked at that, my fist balling and my head whipped in the other direction. I gritted my teeth to stop my whimpers.

"I know it's hard to understand, but you'll see Kiku again. I promise," My dad looked at me, his brown eyes expanding slightly, probably expecting me to scream some slurred mess of something back. I didn't know what to say. If I told him he was lying he'd say some adult-clever thing and i'd be stuck. "This will be good for you, a new school, new friends."

"I don't want that," I shook my head, covering my stinging eyes, "I don't want 'new'."

"You'll love it, the house is nice and big, we're getting a cat too-!"

"I don't want any of that. I want my best friend."

"I'm sorry, Arthur," My dad sighed and bit his lip. "I'll be waiting in the car." My dad took a heavy sigh and walked back to the moving truck. Thats it, thats the end. That's all he could have done? I mean, he's my father figure, he should be able to do more than corner me to going.

I held the box tightly in my hands as Kiku and I hugged again. Our voices slurred and muffled from the amount of spit crying had produced sticking to our mouths.

"I'll call you," I said to him.

"I'll email you." Kiku responded back.

"I won't replace you either. I'm going to find you when I move out and we can be friends again."

"We still are friends," Kiku said, pulling away from me, "No matter what."

I smiled, more tears rushing down my face. I was exhausted from all this crying, I was shaking and my lips quivered. I wanted to pass out, but I didn't want to leave Kiku. "Yeah, yeah, you're right."

"I love you," Kiku said with a smile, wiping away some more tears from his red eyes.

"I love you too," I said with a nod, "And this isn't the end, this isn't goodbye, but, uh, goodbye." I sniffed and wiped my nose. Kiku nodded.

We saluted each other, some sort of melancholy feeling inside me. Trying to smile without our cries cracking them up. Kiku's brown eyes almost twinkled, despite them being somewhat pink on the corners. "Good bye, Arthur Kirkland."

"Good bye, Kiku Honda."

Upon getting into the van, I passed out within seconds. The dark green box pressed closely to my chest.

/**/

I looked at the house with a grimace. Or, this wasn't a house, this wasn't home. This was a building, a building meant for a family of three to live in. It had dark, wooden walls with green plush carpeting lining the bottom. On the outside of 'the building' it looked like a giant head, the door escaping the dirt like a screaming mouth. It reminded me of myself at the moment. It was big though, and nice. It had a balcony out of the right side that faced the other house, which had a balcony on the same exact side.

"Arthur, you get the balcony room," My dad said in a teasing voice. I frowned. It may be nice but its not home. It's a building... A building meant for three.

We all stood in the kitchen, my mom inspecting the walls and fridge the previous owners had left, and my dad sitting at a table. My father's brow was creased, his brown eyes looking over a paper. My dad and I are nothing alike, looks-wise. He had flat, chestnut hair with tints of red, and brown eyes with swirls of dark green. While my mother and I had fluffy blonde hair and green eyes. Also my dad was much bigger than me. Not just because he's an adult, but he's showed me pictures from his sixth grade and he was the size of a normal boy. I'm petite, and I hate it. I'm twelve and I know i'm going to be tiny.

My mom looked at me, a soft smile on her face. "So? Much better than the old house, right?"

"No," I shook my head, crossing my arms. My body still felt weird from crying for so long, "It's not home."

"It is home," My mom shot back and looked at me in the eyes, her voice sounding like a growl, our green eyes locking. I stumbled back slightly.

"No Kiku, no home." I furrowed my brow and pouted my lip gently.

"Stop letting Kiku hold you back, meet new friends, Arthur," My mom let out a huff and turned around. My mom was young, so was my father. Both of them were thirty four.

"I'll try to meet people, but i'm not having a new best friend," I said, almost trying to explain myself. I stepped in front of her and crossed my arms. Crossing my arms was some sort of defense mechanism.

"Kiku's your brother, not your best friend. You can make a best friend but you know Kiku will be close to you." My mom sounded like she was giving up. Her voice was somewhat harsh, but she was trying to be nice to me. She actually made me feel better with those words, not her tone, but her words were good. Kiku's my brother. Like, in, no matter what happens we'll always be together. Yeah, thats a good word for it!

"When are we going to go see him again?" I chirped. My mom seemed relieved I wasn't complaining anymore, but she was irritated with me still. She's been up too a lot of stressful stuff lately.

My mom huffed and her eyes shot to the top of her head, "I don't know Arthur!"

I frowned. She's saying that like it's nothing too me. If she really wanted me to feel better she wouldn't of said that. Did she not care about my feelings during this move? I growled. "You say that like it's nothing."

"Please, Arthur honey, just go play with the neighborhood kids. Introduce yourself," My mom's voice was edgy. She took my shoulders as she said that but quickly let go. I shook my head and squinted.

"No, I just can't introduce myself," I said, swaying my hips a little in some sort of 'i'm bigger then you' move. Even though i'm not, and I knew it, but I just wanted to seem at least confident in what I was saying. "I need a proper meeting."

"Please, Arthur, just go somewhere else."

I frowned and looked at dad. He sunk back in the chair he sat it. Then my eyes looked to the empty hallway, to the red door. There is people out there, Kiku's replacement is out there. I'm not taking any chances on forgetting him.

That's when I remembered the present he got me and bolted out the door.

I wasn't excited to see a present, I was extremely curious. What could he fit in there for me? It has to be special, it has to have some meaning of friendship or something! Maybe a stone that could transport me back home without my parents knowing? Ah, doubt that.

I flung open the van's back seat door and dove into the leather, black seats. Quickly, I tore open the box.

A necklace.

It wasn't girly or anything, it was gold and rather large. A square shaped neclace, with small other stripes of golden type metal within it. I doubt it was real gold, but I didn't care, it was from Kiku. I smiled and looked at it, not necessarily what I was hoping for, but it was good. And from Kiku. I slid it on over my head and smiled proudly.

I slammed the car door shut and sprinted inside, almost tripping over myself as I jumped the curb. "Mom! Mom! Look what Kiku got me! Mooom!"

I looked around the 'building-meant-for three-people' frantically, screaming my mom's name, the necklace slamming against my collarbone. I wanted to show her, I loved the necklace. Probably because it was from Kiku, after all. I was always excited to show my mom anything I got, it was just my childish reflex.

"Mom, mom! Look!" I found the kitchen, and before I had a chance to smile and look at them, tell them what Kiku had given me, my mom screamed.

"Arthur Kirkland!"

I sunk down immediately. I literally sunk down, my legs lowered my body as I watched a bead of spit shoot out of her mouth. Her face was bright red, and I was immediately frightened. "Just leave us alone, please!" My mom took a deep breath.

I felt my lip quiver. Does nobody care? Dad won't even look at me, mom won't do anything but yell! Does it even matter to them that I finally got excited for once in two months? Does it matter to them that I miss Kiku, or that he needs me? Do they even think that maybe being ripped from my best friend makes me feel dandy and want to make new friends? They're not even trying to understand. All they think about is work, not the happiness of their own son.

Maybe it was the pressure that had built up in two months, maybe it was the crush thought that i'd be living in 'the building' for the rest of my young life, that sent me over the edge. Maybe it was Kiku who sent me over the edge. Because I ran off and cried.

First thought was to find my room, but, I don't have a room yet. I grunted, tears running down my eyes as I remembered my room was where the balcony was. My only thoughts were negative as I ran up those stairs.

Nobodies following me, and it makes me feel that nobody cared about me, again.

I couldn't find the balcony room, and I didn't care. My room will never exist in this 'building' without Kiku and I reading comics in it. I found a closet in the upstairs hallway and shut myself in it. It was a walk in, so I hid in the very back of it. And I shook and let sobs rattle my body, hiding my face in my hands. I know for a fact I'm not going to be enjoying this. If Kiku were here, he would comfort me. He's the only one I want to be comforted by, he's the only one who I cry in front of. I held tightly onto the necklace, my palms hurting from the edges on the necklace. I didn't care.

I murmured quietly to myself, mostly negative things. It was already the end of summer I would be starting school here in a week. I don't want to go to school here, I don't want to go to school without anyone familiar. I don't want change.

That's when I heard the music.

At first it was just my foot tapping. I didn't think the music was real, nor there, I didn't even hear it yet, I was too focused on being sad. But my foot automaticly tapped to it. Then I started to notice and try to listen to it.

It brought me out of the closet. It was muffled and I was curious. I followed the sound of music and it soon got clearer.

"_Destination desolation, tell me when you reach the brink of life_."

My head started to bob just slightly with the electronic noises. Indie music, i'm sure. The singers sound familiar, but I don't recognize the song itself. My cheeks itched from dried tears, my hair sticking to my forehead from sweat. I sighed and shakily walked around the upstairs.

"_To the center of the pain, Through your tattered window pane, To the middle of your heart._"

I blinked and rubbed my itchy eyes and soon found the balcony room, 'my' room. I had a few moments to admire how large it was until curiosity dragged me to the balcony.

And I sat on the balcony and started to bob my head gently to the music. I knew now it was coming from the house next door, and this was the furthest I would get to it. I liked the song too. The humidity sticked to my forehead but I really didn't mind at this point.

"_Love is clueless and destiny is wishing, This is my heart, it's on the line, Selene_."

I sat there for at least a minute, just listening to the music, my eyes burning from the setting sun with the addition of my them being very itchy from crying. I started to pick up the beat and began humming it, just softly, soft enough for only me to hear.

I jumped as I heard a scream; "Alfred! Turn that down!" Female.

"Ach! Sorry mom!" Male.

The other person's voice sounded cracked. Maybe another boy suffering through puberty? Well, I now know my neighbor might be my age and likes to play his music very loud. And he has a mom who doesn't like it when he plays his music very loud. I stood up and leaned over the balcony.

The music died down. I frowned, it was the only thing keeping me distracted from my stress.

I saw through the doors on my neighbor's balcony. They were glass like mine, but covered by a blue curtain. The light inside cast shadows, though, and I saw a figure dancing like a complete idiot inside. I giggled (Or, do boys chuckle? I hate the word 'chuckle'.)with an eye-roll. If I focused hard enough I could hear the quiet beat of the music, and watched the neighbor. I snorted, whoever it was was acting like an idiot.

"This is my heart! Its on the line! Selene!" I then heard the voice from inside, the door to the balcony slowly cracking open, but the voice was still muffled. His voice cracked on 'selene' but he continued going, "This is not what I expect, this is not what I expect!" Is this bad? Should I be watching someone like this? Eh, whatever, today was horrible at least I can do this. This was distracting me. The doors to the balcony suddenly swung open, slamming against the wall off the balcony, the curtains that were hooked onto them blowing.

I heard his voice before I saw anything; "I can see it in your tears and now they're crowning me the Caesar!"

He was blonde. A golden shade of blonde, it just looked a tad brighter in the sun. His eyes were closed as he began to un-gracefully spin around his balcony. He wore a batman t-shirt, and he surprisingly didn't have as much baby fat left as a lot of boys my age did. He was my age, definitely, speaking of it, maybe even younger. He was tall but it was clear he was my age. The way his eyes still looked too big for his skull, the way his nose was still button-y. Like me, basically. He had lengthy legs but good sized shoulders that were connected to long arms.

I laughed at him, i'd never seen anyone act so openly like that, it was funny, and a little irritating. But I was curious to watch him more. And especially how he danced. He puckered his lips just slightly, His long legs outstretched just to meet the floor inches away from his previous step.

He stumbled over himself which brought him to notice me. He straightened out his back as he got up, a big goofy grin on his face. I squinted, cocking my head. Strange? I didn't feel like running, I didn't feel threatened. He looked over to me, uncovering that his eyes were a baby blue, the shade of the sky.

"Oh hi," He yelled, waving a hand, "Who're you?" His voice was much more cracked up then mine was.

"Um," I looked at him awkwardly, "I just moved here."

"Oh jeez, how much of that did you see?" The latter bit his lip, but he still looked goofy, even under the awkwardness on his face.

"All of it," I said with a nod.

"Oh man," The boy looked the other way quickly before meeting eyes with me, "Real sorry." It didn't sound sincere, like he was apologising to himself, not me.

"No, it's fine," I said with a short sigh, "Sorry for watching you."

"Oh yeah!" His eyebrows creased and his lips puckered, but it was more of a playful glance, "You were watchin' me!" He stuck his tongue out and I put on a strained smile. Now this is kind of strange, its starting to get awkward, maybe I should go.

"Hm," I nodded, "Sorry. I like your music, though." That was not a good way to end a conversation, Arthur!

"Are you an Imagine Dragons fan?" He chirped, his eyes lighting up almost immediately.

"Is that the band?" I asked, "Who sings it? I don't know them."

The other looked dumbfounded. "You've never heard of Imagine Dragons?" The other boy cocked his head, "Thats no good!"

"Sorry," I muttered, pressing my chest against the balconies black railing.

"So, you've never heard radioactive?" The latter said, tapping his finger on his own railing. I shook my head. "You know, I'm breathing in the chemicals," He then took a pause to over-dramatically take a deep breath. I still shook my head, he looked frustrated now. "I'm waking up! I feel it in my bones, enough to make my system below?" The other boy smiled, then made a shouting face, "Welcome to the new age! To the new age!" I laughed.

"I've never heard of them. Nice singing though."

"Thanks!" He gave me the thumbs up. I rolled my eyes. The other boy paused and thought about something, making a concentrated face. "Maybe you can hang out sometime. I'll make you an Imagine Dragon's fan by next week!"

"Alright," I said with a nod. My first thought was Kiku. Am I replacing him? No, i can't be, I'm just visiting a boy's house. I'm his brother like mom said. But, this kid seems really energetic, what will I do if I come over? Sit there and watch him bounce around? That would be awkward. Maybe I can just give him a chance, mom would be thrilled if she found out. But, he's kind of annoying. I don't want one of those friends who's totally annoying and I try to avoid at all costs. He also seems rowdy. I liked to play pretend with Kiku, but this kid looks like a wrestler. He does look strong, for a kid his age.

"I'm Alfred!" He said, his smile widening. He did a little hand movement to add to his name, maybe to make himself seem cooler. "Alfred Jones!"

I nodded. Telling him my name is the first step to a friendship. Do I really want too, really? Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to take a chance? I can't get out of this, he lives next door.

"I'm Arthur, Arthur Kirkland."

Okay, well yes, I am going to do this.

/**/

I spent the last week of my summer watching the boys at my neighborhood and helping move the stuff into the house. After I finished my room i'd sit on the balcony and pretend to read. What I was really doing, I was watching them play. Not because I was left out, because I was surveying them. I wanted to see how they worked and played, where I fit in in this neighborhood.

From what I know, there is Alfred, Henry, Zachary, Josh, and Michael. Zachary had two sisters, one rather young who was about five or six, her name was Rebecca. She tried to hang out and play with the boys a lot but they never let her. The other sister is old and already started high school. Henry isn't very nice. Henry is big, he's a year older then me, and likes to boss around the others a lot. Alfred and him fight, a ton. Nobody likes Henry, but they respect him as a big kid (Alfred for some reason though, doesn't very much at all. I can tell by the way Alfred punches Henry in the stomach every once in a while.). When he isn't around they usually play tag or some game relating. I'm scared to play with them to tell you the truth. Not because i'm shy, but because i'm somewhat disgusted. The way Alfred immediately tackles anyone that disagrees with him. It makes me afraid to play because I'm afraid of getting hurt.

Maybe I can hang out with Rebecca. She sells lemonade a lot. Maybe I can help her.

Sometimes Alfred spotted me when I sat in my balcony, secretly watching them. He'd usually ask me if I wanted to play and I told him no every time. I'm not done watching them yet. I don't think I want to play either. Hopefully I can meet an ally in school. Just an ally, but I don't mind be alone either.

I've called Kiku every day so far. He's asked me about my new house and if I made any friends yet. I told him the honest answers. It made me happy to hear his voice. I also thanked him for my necklace. I've worn it every day so far, even to bed.

/**/

School here was different then school in albany. It smelled like chemical cleaner and sneakers, and the floors and white-brick walls shined. This school was bigger, but we only stayed in one classroom for the whole day with breaks in between. I wore my favorite T-shirt, it said 'friend' on it, Kiku had the other half that said 'best'. They had a cloud and a sun on it, I got the cloud. For some reason Kiku and I always fought over who got the 'friend' peice of those best friend shirts or necklaces.

My teachers name was Ms. Graham. We all laughed about graham crackers for a lot of the first class. The one thing was that Alfred and Henry were in my class. We had assigned seats, thank god, so Alfred couldn't sit next to me. He pouted and whined for a while to about wanting to sit next to me, kicking his dirty sneakers around under his desk.

The annoying thing was girls would swoon to him when he batted his baby-blue eyes at them. I'm not sure if they were really swooning, or just trying to be adult.

was very into Greek stories. In second period, History, she told us an exciting story about a guy named Odysseus. He was very smart and tricked some giants into not eating him or something! It was really exciting, and she drew monsters all over the board and did fun hand movements, telling us the tale through flowing whispers.

The story hung in my head until recess. While kids ran around and screamed and chased each other, I sat and drew pictures in a notebook. I previously had seen Alfred playing pretend with Henry, but I didn't want to join their game. Alfred would make me a princess or something. I started to draw the monster from Ms. Graham's story, the cyclopes. It had one eye or something, and liked to eat people! Odysseus stabbed it in the eye with his sword and him and his friends got away! He tricked the cyclops first though, something to do with wine.

As I drew, I heard a loud voice behind me. The pencil twitched in my hands a streaked across the page. I frowned.

"I really like your monster drawing!"

I turned around on the bench I sat on to see the person behind the voice. It was a girl. She had round cheeks and grey-blue eyes. It looked like her hair was a dark yellow. She batted her eyelashes at me, her smile taking up half her face, dimples in plain sight. Her teeth were crooked.

"Um, Thanks," I said with a nod. I turned back around and the girl swung her leg around the bench, sitting next to me. She wore a graphic-t with a cat wearing sunglasses on it. She kicked her legs excitedly.

"it's really cool," She said, her voice raspy, "Did you draw that all by yourself?"

I nodded, getting a sense of pride. Whenever anyone commented on my art I felt pretty good, "Yeah."

"Woah!" She said, her eyes widening, "Are you new here, I'm new here."

"Oh yeah," I nodded. This girl reminded me a lot like Alfred, but this was a little different. She seemed less rude, and she was a girl which automatically made her not as rough and scary. "I moved here from New York."

"I moved here from Florida! It's a lot colder here." The girl puckered her pink lips. Her nose was round, but had a scratch on the ridge. Looked like a cat scratch. "I'm Courtney," She said in a funny voice.

I chuckled and nodded, then awkwardly put on the same, fish-face, "I'm Arthur."

"Oh hey, you're uh, French, right?" Courtney said, cocking her head almost so it touched her shoulder. Her bobbed hair-cut glided with a gust of wind. She gave me a goofy smile.

"No, British."

"Where's British?" She asked.

"No, um, England."

"I thought you were from British?" She squinted her eyes and put her hands on her hips. She wasn't trying to be rude, it was kind of sad, she was clueless. I laughed.

"Well I'm from England, which makes me British. England is above France, it's an island," I said, raising my index finger. Courtney nodded over dramatically, her bangs flopping.

"Alright I think I get it now," Courtney said, "I'm a Flordish, then!" She said, raising her arms. I laughed. Her eyes then met my drawing again, and her eyes widened. "Oh! Arthur! Can you teach me how to draw?" She put her hands into fists. I bit my lip, Kiku taught me how to draw. Kiku taught me techniques and then I started drawing, drawing was special. Should I really do this? "Pleeaasse Arthur? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Alright," I sighed.

"Yes!" Courtney raised her arms in the air and picked up her legs, and for a second I thought she was going to fall off the bench. Her sneakers hit the ground with a thud.

"Alright, so first of all, you have to draw circles." I stated, and looked at her before drawing a circle lightly with my pencil. She watched my hands closely, her mouth agape.

"Circles, got it."

"And lines," I said. I made a light stick figure, "See, thats how it starts out!"

"But thats a stick figure," Courtney whined.

"Yeah, but now I can add details," I said with a smile, "I think its called guidelines." I filled in the head more to make it a head, the arms and legs, and soon I had a person. "See?"

"Woah!" Courtney exclaimed again, jumping up, pushing her hands onto the bench. "So cool."

"Thanks," I said. I dropped the pencil and closed the notebook, but Courtney stayed in her position, hunched over with her arms spread out over the table. I turned to look at her once I closed my notebook.

Courtney squinted at me, like she was studying my face, her head bobbing slightly. After a few moments she said, "You're cool." Just out of the blue. I didn't mind though, I had never been called cool.

Maybe having a girl best friend would be easier than a male. With a female, I can still feel like i'm not ditching Kiku. I don't look down on girls or anything, even though they are icky, but its just different. Like you have a slot for your male best friend and your female best friend. It just works.

Courtney and I then ate lunch together. Just us two at a table, which I didn't mind, because Kiku and I used to be in this situation. We talked about things,weird things. Like monsters, unicorns and being 'Flordish'.

Sadly by the end of the day, Courtney lives the in the exact opposite direction that my 'building-for-three' was. She gave me her house number and asked if maybe we could play together some time. Alfred caught up to me and walked home with me.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Was the first thing he said. It was in almost a 'what was wrong with you' tone, plus a monotone. His golden bangs blew in the hot wind, his big blue eyes staring at me through squinted lids.

"No, ew," I said, shaking my head, "she's my friend." I shrugged, my backpack felt heavy on my spine, I hadn't worn one in a while. I sighed, today was tiring. I want to go home and sleep forever and dream about Courtney, Kiku and I all having fun together.

"Wanna come over my house soon, my dad's a great cook, he can make us burgers or something," Alfred began chewing on his lips. Alfred has rather large lips, they were just pale-ish and fit the rest of his face fine.

"Courtney might be coming over soon," I said.

"I want to show you Imagine Dragons," Alfred said, waving his hips, totally ignoring my last comment. He puckered his lips, I frowned.

"Okay," I nodded, "maybe soon. I've been busy because I just moved in, you know." I sighed and my shoulders slouched.

"I've got it," Alfred beamed, his face lighting up, "Maybe, will you be my best friend if I give you all my chocolates?" The way Alfred voice got higher as he said 'best' annoyed me. Like he was shoving it my face.

"Um," I squinted, my head slowing going to my shoulder. That sounds promising. "Maybe."

"How about," Alfred clicked his tongue, "I'll make sure to be your saviour for your entire life."

"No way," I made a sour face. "I'm no princess."

"I'll let you pet my dog!" Alfred said, his fingers spreading out, "and you can borrow her from time to time."

I tapped my chin. "I'm more of a cat person, but maybe."

Alfred snickered, his brow tensing up, "How about... I'll let you have all my spongebob dvds!"

I was a fan of spongebob, who wasn't? Alfred sounded pained to say that as well, he had to close his eyes to say it.

"Hmm," My eyes went into the corner of my eyes, looking up at nothing. "Deal." I nodded. I knew that I would only be Alfred's friend for his dog, chocolates and dvds, and he's annoying, so I won't really be his friend. It's like a secret. He's secretly not my friend. Only my friend for the stuff he's giving me! Perfect! Is this mean? Eh, maybe. Well, I can be true allies with him in my mind. Just not true best friends.

"Yes!" Alfred said, fisting his hands. "Shake on it!" He yelled. I nodded and we both stopped walking and turned to each other. Alfred paused to spit in his hand, and the spit stuck to his chapped lips for a while before dripping into his hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a grimace.

"Spitting in your hand makes the promise stronger!" Alfred put one hand on his hip, puffing out his lip. "Something like, combing spit so it like, makes you, uh..."

"Can we just pinkie promise?" I asked, cocking my head, Interupting him.

"This is the way adults do it," Alfred said, raising an index finger to make his point clear. I nodded and sighed, spitting into my hand and we both shook hands. I quickly wiped my hand on my pants after.

"But the deal only stands if I can have your chocolate and spongebob dvds, and pet your dog," I added, somewhat smartly. I puffed out my lip. Alfred moaned.

"Alright," Alfred paused, "Just to prove how manly-awesome I am."

"Okay," I nodded, trying not to listen to him too much.

"Lets play tomorrow, alright?" Alfred beamed. I nodded. "And i'll show you Imagine Dragons!" He took my hand harshly, and I could still feel the spit from earlier sticking to it. I smiled awkwardly and my head shot in the opposite direction, and Alfred pulled me home. He literally pulled me, I found myself stumbling over my feet as he brought me home. This was embarrassing, I can hear a small group of seventh graders snickering behind us. Great. Alfred's dimples deepened as his smile widened.

I'm not sure if I knew that Alfred would become my best friend. That I would stick my him throughout middle school- whether or not he had a dog or chocolate.

And that maybe him holding my hand tightly would one day be the most exciting thing I could get out of him.

/********/

_**Author's Note_**_

Hey-o~! Woah, I've been wanting to do a story like this for quite a while. This was a ton of fun, I love making characters children, it's fun.

Arthur is probably in Sixth grade… Yeah, sixth grade. I'm not sure if Sixth grade is realistic or not, maybe Fifth would be more appropriate.

I'm really pleased with this actually. Since Autographs had a very complicated theme, I feel as though this will be much easier for me to write. Kiku will appear (in person) in the story a lot, don't fret Kiku fans. So will Courtney, but she's an OC, so nobody cares about her XD! Canon characters probably will consist of Liz (love that little shit), Ivan, Kiku, Gilbert, Ludwig, and of course Alfred and Arthur. It's strange I always make this stuff Arthur's POV, Alfred's my favorite Hetalia character. Maybe I just love making Al a jerk. And a super sexy football player you know.

Hey is um anyone up to be my spell checker? I could email ya the chapters or something, just pm me if you're interested. The re-reading of this made the creation about 2 days longer.

Well, see ya next time! ~Love the fabulous me. P.S., I totally drew the rocking cover. P.S.S, Rated M for later chapters. Yes Smut, languedge, gore (kinda not really. It mentions blood), and sensitive material. It won't be anything as depressing as Ups And Downs (no cutting or self harm like Ups and Downs) but will have material sensitive to others. (Mostly abuse and sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is just mentioned though and briefly happens to Arthur ((nothing like getting raped though)) Nothing happens head on. (-I hate writing about rape, it makes me feel like I'm hurting someone.)

So there's your warning. Don't be bugging me about it if I didn't give you enough of a warning. I will say before I start chapters that I think may harm people a small warning on the top. Please don't bug me about putting a trigger warning up there, because here it is.

Okay, one other thing. I have a second (back up) account now. This story is also on there, so don't flip out if you see a copy of this story, its most likely my back up account.

This is my back up account so you don't get confused :3 u/4686975/goldenlab2000


	2. Chapter 2

Alfred laid sprawled out in the grass. Green blades poked out next to his cheeks and it tangled in his fingers. He was giggling quietly, and I watched him closely, sitting in the grass a few feet away. I rubbed the golden necklace in my fingers.

"Let'er go!" Alfred shouted, his voice rasping at 'go'. He laughed again, his face was red. "Do it Arthur!"

"You sure?" I asked, cocking my head, the necklace being pulled out of my hand by the force of my own neck. "What if she steps on you?" Alfred shook his head.

"She won't!" Alfred raised his hands to the sky, his fingers wriggle in the air. "Do it!" Alfred's arms fell to his sides as if limp.

You see, I was confronted with the problem of coming over. It wasn't bad, actually, we listened to some of Alfred's music in the kitchen for a while until we went outside. Now Alfred was chanting for me to let his dog out of the house so she could step all over him or something. I cannot see the fun in this. I sighed and pushed myself up off the ground. I padded barefooted through the dry grass, my feet crunching in the grass that clearly hadn't been watered in ages. I looked at the back door, through the screen to see Alfred's German Shepherd waiting patiently for me. She looked at me, her ears pointing up and her tongue hung out, panting. She almost looked like she was smiling.

I sighed, "Hey girl," I whispered quietly, "Can you murder Alfred for me, please? Or maybe you can talk to him about how this game is no fun." The dog whimpered and cocked her head, her bottom teeth over-lapping her top lip for a split second. "Thought so," I sighed with a small smile.

"Bella! Bella!" Alfred beamed in the background. I turned to see him lifting up his arms again, and he let out a giggle. "Bellaaa!" That was his dog's name, I beileve. My eyelids drooped as I bit down on my lower jaw. Bella had hoped up and was now wagging her tail excitedly.

"Alright, go get him," I said airily, opening the screen door. The dog rocketed out, almost knocking me over. I turned to witness the dog jump on top of Alfred, and almost immediately I wondered if he was alright, but the sound of his laughter was a message he was.

I jogged over to the boy and his dog. Bella had Alfred pinned down with her paws at his shoulders, licking his face like crazy. She then took a pause to bark and continued to lick. Alfred's face had turned bright red with laughter, and he pushed on the dog's belly. I cocked my head.

"Enjoying yourself?" I asked.

"Y-yeah!" Alfred said, his voice raspy. "Bella!" I sat down as I watched him giggle, the dog barking and letting her large tongue glide across his face.

He's really happy. How does something like that make him so happy? His face is shiny in dog spit, that cannot be happiness to anyone. I frowned and sighed, my head turning in the other direction. This was awful boring. For some reason, sitting here made me sad. Just a little sad, like, I was imaging Kiku and I playing some game together right now instead. I could be at my actual home, not the building meant for three.

"Bella, Go," Alfred said, his voice still all giggly, "Go say hi to Arthur."

The dog barked and got off of Alfred, trotting over to me and sitting down a few inches away. Her ears flopped and she panted. Wow, this dog's smart. I reached out and scratched the dogs ear, the animal immediately leaning towards me. Alfred sat up and wiped his face.

"What was that?" I asked. Alfred wiped his eyes and looked up at me.

"What?"

"What you just did."

"Oh," Alfred paused, his smile still across his face, "I dunno." The younger boy shrugged, "It was fun though." Alfred wiped his dog-spit drenched hair to the side of his face.

"Do you do that a lot?" I asked. My fingers curled in a blade of grass, tearing it from the dirt.

"Thats how she wakes me up in the morning," Alfred said matter-of-factly. I squinted. His dog's smart and weird.

"Really?" I asked. Alfred nodded proudly.

"My dog's real cool, cuz she's my dog," Alfred stuck out his chest to seem bigger and manleir i'm guessing. I nodded, my head falling to the side slightly. "She's big and strong, and could probably tear your face off!" I looked at the dog. She was still rather puppy-ish, her legs were skinny and her chest was small. She wasn't capable of making anyone bleed too bad from the looks of it.

"Yeah, she's real scary," I said, petting just behind the dogs tail. Her foot started to kick swiftly before it was just a large blur. I giggled.

"Okay, okay, fine, she's not very big." Alfred said, crossing his arms. "Well okay, what do you want to do now?" I could see the stinkiness from Alfred's face.

"Shouldn't we wash your face off or something?" I said with a small chuckle.

Alfred seemed to consider those words for a few moments, biting his lip, his eyes trailing to the side. "Yeah, sure. Good plan." Alfred got up and offered me his hand, which I took, accepting Alfred's kindness and enjoying that his hand wasn't covered in his own spit.

/**/

For what I know, Alfred's spoiled rotten by his mother, mostly. I feel as if his mother is his step-mother, his mother looks nothing like him. She's small with those rosy red cheeks, she almost looks like one of those plump little grandmothers who feeds you a non stop supply of cookies. She usually wears sweaters, which shocked me, because the heat right now was intense. They were usually a snug fit on her, and made her look more like a grandmother. She had brown hair, and the same color eyes with tints of orange. She also wore these red glasses that had that string around them. I don't really get the point of those. Now, Alfred's mom gave him treats consisting of candies, cookies, and icecream. She gave things to him for doing the smallest things, which irritated me beyond belief. All I got back home is those hard, little sugar cookies. Unless I did something really great like win a big competition or if Kiku came over and we bought ourselves ice cream.

Alfred's dad was the stricter parent. He was tall, very tall, and looked like he came straight out of a professional American football league. He had tattoos of eagles and lions covering his strong arms, and his blonde hair was shaved so close to his head he almost looked bald. He had the same striking blue eyes that Alfred had, but they looked so weird in that large of a man. He did not spoil Alfred, nor was he mean to him, basically he was my mom in the parenting position. He yelled at Alfred sometimes, I mean, I would too, if my boy was running around with a sheet over his head and had just knocked over a lamp, yeah i'd be upset. Unlike me with getting grounded, Alfred has to run laps around the block. Yeah, exercise punishment. I'd like that much more than being thing was Alfred would keep running laps until he would pass out, which was about an hour or two of sprinting and jogging. We'd all gather to watch him and laugh when he finally gave out. But, one thing I knew was if Alfred's dad keeps up this kind of punishment, Alfred's going to turn into a human weapon. Alfred's extremely stubborn, which keeps him going.

Alfred's house wasn't half as impressive as mine. There was a ton of American decor everywhere (Jeez, these guys are real patriots.), bookshelves and dog accessories. Even though his house was as big as mine it still wasn't much. Alfred's room was a decent size and was actually clean. We hung out on his bed for most of the day.

By the time we had gone upstairs, despite Alfred washing off his face, he was still digging his fingernails into his cheeks. I told him to stop itching and that he's going to bleed to death if he keeps doing it.

"Really?" Alfred had responded with, his eyes widening.

"Totally," I nodded, looking at him. "It's common too."

I smirked and Alfred's hands shot straight down to his sides.

"Your mom feeds you a lot of candy," I murmured quietly as I turned on his bed to look at the ceiling. Alfred had hung posters in his room of multiple superheroes, his favorite one being Captain America (which he previously told me).

"Yeah," Alfred nodded, "I like it." He smiled. "If cookies were taken from my diet i'd die."

"Well your teeth are either going to rot out or you'll die from quitting." Alfred snickered at that.

"What do you eat, scones and tea?"

"Are you making fun of my heritage?" I hissed. Alfred stuck his tongue out.

"Maybe, I mean, America is the savour of the world. Britain really can't compete."

"Excuse me?" I hissed, but almost playfully. I can tell he's trying to get under my skin. I jumped on top of him and we rolled off his bed, laughing. Once I hit the floor with Alfred on top of me though, I could feel some air escape my lungs in a small gasp.

Alfred started to laugh before giving me a tight hug, "You're so cool, bushy-brows."

"Hey, don't call me that." I was happy he said that, twice in one week I had been called cool, but bushy-brows? I hate my eyebrows and Alfred's just taking it as a thing to make a joke out of.

"What? Cool or bushy-brows?" Alfred gave me a toothy grin before rolling off of me. I rolled my eyes. "You hungry? I'm hungry."

"Yeah," I nodded, "Cookies for dinner?" I looked at Alfred who shot me back with the most 'i'm so done' expression ever.

I walked myself home after dinner that night. It was only seven o'clock, and wasn't too dark, and plus I live right next door. I looked up at the setting sun before slipping inside the house. Upon opening the door, I saw my dad sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Hey Art," He said, his brown eyes giving me a flash, "How was Alfred's house?"

"It was okay," I said with a shrug.

He gave me a look, his eyebrows lifting, "Just okay? Alfred and his friends seem crazy. I thought you would have had fun."

"I did, sorta," I sighed, sitting down and taking off my shoes. "I watched his dog lick his face for a straight twenty minutes. He seemed to be having fun." My dad chuckled.

"Sounds like a great time," My dad laughed. I hummed and ran upstairs to take a bath.

I don't know how I felt about that whole situation, truthfully. Alfred was nice, but he couldn't have my kind of fun. Maybe I can hang out with Courtney over the weekend or something. I'm not very sure how I like Alfred, I feel almost as if he doesn't care very much about me. And even if he did, he wouldn't show it. He'd just be rude and tease me about it.

/**/

"Well, who's this?" My mom stared at Courtney with wide eyes. She was interested, not shocked that I had a friend over.

"Is this your mother?" Courtney asked, looking at me while cocking her head. I nodded. "Hi, Ms. Kirkland!" Courtney chirped, her hands going to her hips. I smiled.

"This is Courtney," I said, matter-of-factly. I was proud to show my mom that I had an actual friend, that wasn't someone who annoyed me. "She's my friend."

"Oh," My mom said, her hands clapping together. "Arthur's friend, hm?" Courtney nodded. "Well, how about you both go get some ice cream, I can give you money."

My jaw dropped, mom hadn't given me her own money to buy ice cream since... A forever ago! Courtney smiled. "Awesome!"

Now I was going to tell Courtney that my mom doesn't normally give me money, but mom might yell if I tell her that. My mom dug into her pocket and took out ten dollars, wearing a fake smile. I swallowed nervously, she looked like she was forcing herself to smile. I decided not to question it.

And we left. I wore my British-flag t-shirt and Courtney wore some white tee with a green stick figure on it. Courtney loved to express herself. Her shoes were pink and blue striped with purple laces, her pants normally some neon color that pants usually aren't, and her hair always down at her shoulders or in a bob. Sometimes she wore necklaces with cats on them.

See; I was, almost, normal. I wasn't the other kid's version of normal. I was quiet and left others alone, and didn't dress like a psychopath. And I was smart. I could finish worksheets faster than anyone in the sixth grade.

We walked to the ice cream place near the school. We just padded our way along happily, talking about Courtney's cat. She also told me that's she's been trying to draw with guidelines, like I taught here.

Then I realised why mom was acting so weird. Just like Alfred had done, mom thought Courtney was my girlfriend, didn't she? Or at least she wanted me to have Courtney be my girlfriend, she wouldn't have given me money if that was Alfred with me. I grew angry, but that can't be helped. Once Courtney leaves i'll set things straight with mom.

Because Courtney is not my girlfriend. She's my friend. Girl's are icky. Right now, at least.

/**/

Alfred sat with me during lunch. It was Alfred, Courtney, Josh, Zach and I. I sat in the middle of Courtney and Alfred, Alfred spending most of his time shooting jokes at me or talking to Josh. Courtney and I just talked about stupid stuff for most of lunch. I always found the school lunch weird, wherever I went, and always brought my own biscuits and a sandwich from home. Alfred and Courtney didn't eat the school lunch either, but usually Al's lunch consisted of candies and cookies. Courtney and I shared and traded food sometimes too, sometimes she'd have some chocolate chip cookies I wanted and we would trade.

The only problem with lunch was that the seventh graders eat with us.

The seventh graders were scary. They were loud, big, and had body hair. You had to have a certain respect for them if you were in younger grades, or else you're dead. They prowl our halls like a cat sometimes, looking for some kid on the way to the bathroom to snatch up and drag to seventh grade hell. At lunch is the place where I feel most threatened though, teachers don't pay much attention to the lunch goers, and they think that the top-of-the-school-seventh-graders are angels. The seventh graders enjoy creeping around the lunch room, stealing kids lunches or calling them names. Alfred's a pretty big target, with his lunch that usually consisted of hard candies and M&Ms. We have made it so we sit in the middle table, the seventh graders usually pick off the outside. But when one of them are around, I can't help but stare and hope they go away. I can't keep my tears in my eyes for long for bullies.

"They can smell fear," Alfred would normally whisper to me, "Don't stare."

One day, Courtney was out sick. I went out of my way to call her that morning and continued to school, wishing she was there. But now, i'm almost glad she hadn't come.

The seventh graders had struck. It was the table in front of ours, it seems they're working their way in. We should really move our table, but Alfred insists on not moving, that's how they know. Three boys, the normal three, one blonde, one ginger, and one brunette. Brunette-kid had some fourth graders lunch.

"They're jerks," Alfred said with a frown. But this time, he didn't whisper it, he didn't yell it, but it was loud enough to go to a five-table radius. The seventh graders picked that up, it almost looked like their ears twitched at the sound before dropping the boy they were picking on's lunch. My eyes widened and I swallowed, but Alfred glared at them as they approached. Josh pulled on his sleeve.

"Look what you did!" Josh shot back in a whisper. Zachary whimpered quietly, he was the shyest out of the kids I knew. But the seventh graders were already looking down upon us with smirks.

"Well, well, I haven't seen this group yet," The ginger one said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"You don't recognize me?" Alfred shot back, holding the same expression as the bullies did.

They all laughed, "Well, I know that dork." Alfred's nose scrunched up, "It's Alfred Jones. Ancestor of the great world-war-two pilot." They all chuckled again. Was it really that funny? Their more immature if anything.

Alfred stood up. I pulled him back into his seat. "Don't, they'll beat you to bloody pieces," I hissed in a whisper. They obviously heard me, the average seventh grader can hear five times better then we can.

They erupted in laughter, "Oh! He's British!" They all laughed and I just glared at them, confused. They're idiots. Really, the only thing mocking about them is their size and power. How is mocking someone for their accent really that funny? I moved to America when I was very little, anyways, so it doesn't even matter. "Okay so we have stick-legs, fatty, blue-eyes, and now this British kid." The blonde one laughed.

"How about bushy brows?" The ginger one laughed. I was upsetted by that now.

"Perfect."

"Hey, don't call him that!" Alfred yelled, standing up. This time both Josh and I pulled him down into his seat. I put my hand on Alfred's shoulder. These guys were idiots, yes, but I had feared this day for quite a while and could feel my heart pounding.

"Alfred, it's fine," I said between gritted teeth.

"Yeah, Alfred, better listen to your girlfriend."

That blew Alfred, the anger on his face was easily recognisable. Alfred leapt up, quicker them Josh and I had time to think and grab him. Alfred dove underneath the table, quickly being able to crawl out on the other side. One of the old boys slammed his hand against the table, sprawling out where Alfred was sitting. I jumped, holding back a shriek.

"He pounced! He pounced!" Some squeaky voice called, i'm guessing a first grader. The blonde who was on the table growled and turned, his teeth clenched. The other two boys had rocketed after Alfred, running through the lunch room. I could see his blonde hair shoot through the rows of tables. I couldn't get a good glimpse of Alfred, for he was smaller and a much better runner.

But then the gritted teeth of the blonde one converted into a smile.

He grabbed me by the collar, quickly. I felt myself swallow as I looked at his dark green eyes. He's going to drag me to Seventh grade hell, I know it. I felt the muscles in my face go limp as he spoke, never had I been antagonised this bad.

"Hey, look bushy-brows, i'm going to lock you and your little friends here in the basement while nobody is looking, alright? That's what you get for standing up too u-!"

"Hey!" Josh yelled. Josh had always been the goofy nice one in the neighborhood group, I expected him to be mad at that.

"Sit down, fatty!" The blonde kid's face turned bright red, and Josh shamefully sat back down.

"Don't worry, all there is in the basement is rats." I nodded nervously as the blonde chuckled. But his chuckle changed into a shriek as he let go of my collar, dropping to the ground. I stared dumbfounded as behind him was Alfred, staring at him as if in shocked.

"I kicked him in the balls!" Alfred shouted, raising his arms. He looked awfully proud of himself.

"Jesus," The blonde kid whispered, his hand going down his pants, "You little sh-shit!" I got up from my seat, walked around the table and weakly kicked his side. He didn't move besides for the massaging of his dick. I smiled, actually.

Then the brunette kid came rocketing down the cafeteria like an angry bull. I shrieked quietly and Alfred positioned himself as he was ready to take the charging bull. Josh cheered him on while Zach shyly stared. At this point girls were crying, boys were staring, and a few of the little kids were clapping.

But the room fell silent as the teacher approached, standing in front of Alfred. Alfred's tensed arms dropped to his side, along with his expression. The brunette kid skidded in his tracks, his sneakers screeching.

"What is going on here?" She shouted. I believe she was one of the big-kid's gym teachers. She had very short hair.

"That little shit kicked me!" The blonde one shrieked.

"You threatened to lock us in the basement!" I yelled.

"Yeah and you almost punched me!" Al shouted.

"And he called me fatty!" Josh hissed.

"...And stick legs," Zachary whispered.

"All of you, office, now," The teacher demanded.

"Wait, miss, I totally saved the day!" Alfred yelled in a beg. He put his hands together as if he were pleading guilty.

I could feel tears brimming my eyes now. I don't know why, I was just way sensitive to this stuff. "Not until we interview everybody," The teacher said with a sigh. I felt my lips quiver, and wiped my eyes before following the teacher down the hall. I walked close behind Alfred, possibly to keep my crooked frown hidden from everyone. Zach and Josh followed us. It was silent the whole way.

/**/

Josh and Zachary were picked up, the seventh graders in the principal's office.

Alfred and I were alone in the waiting room, sitting on plush chairs. Alfred stared into space as I fought back tears. That was awful embarrassing, I hate bullies. I wish Kiku were here. I turned my head away from Alfred, resting my chin on my hand, making sure he couldn't see me if tears started coming out of my eyes. I don't know why I was trying not to cry, maybe I was fed up. I was fed up with very little, but fed up. I want to be home, where I felt safe when I was with Kiku. I didn't worry about him because I had his back, and he had mine. No bully at my old school had been so harsh.

"That was cool, hm?" Alfred spoke after a while, making me twitch. His tone was excited. "You should have saw me! They couldn't even keep up! and the way I kicked that guy in the-... Arthur?" I felt my heart sink, he knew I was upset now. He knew I was basically crying. Just with the sound of my name a tear escaped and rolled down my cheek. It crept over my chapped lips and down my chin. It would have fallen into my mouth, but I was biting down hard enough on my lips so no whimpers came out. "Artie? You okay?"

I kept silent. I knew if I started to talk I would sob. My face was burning up.

"Arthuur," Alfred whined, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Turn towards me, dude." I shook my head. "Did I do something? I'm really sorry." I shook my head again, he probably saved me from getting punched or something, i'm very grateful for that. Alfred leaned his head against my shoulder. "Artiiee, Arthuur, talk to mee." he shook my body gently, and I heard him grunt. Now the tears either disappear at my cheekbones or keep going, and I can't stop. With Alfred pressed against me, for some reason, is making me feel extremely bittersweet. Which makes me cry even more. I hope my dad doesn't come soon. I want to stay like this, or I want to stop crying. My eyes sting.

"Please, Arthur? What's wrong?" Alfred said, lifting his head off my shoulder. His voice sounded higher than normal, probably out of sympathy or something.

"Nothing," I croaked out in a slurred voice. Alfred gasped quietly, very quietly, I hardly picked it up and he's right next to me.

"Gosh," Alfred muttered, "I'm really sorry Arthur, I shouldn't have gotten their attention." Alfred's fingers curled around my shoulders, I could feel him staring at me. "Please don't cry." I shook my head again.

"Not, it's not your fault," I said quickly, the roof of my mouth covered in spit.

Then Alfred hugged me. He hugged me for a long time until I decided to hug back. I awkwardly did it too, it was very gradual. Like, maybe he wouldn't notice me if I did it slowly. When someone excited the office, Alfred gently pushed my head into his chest too completely conceal my crying face in his shirt. He held me there, just one hand pressed against my head lightly. I didn't try to pull away, I didn't want to pull away. I had comfort. I wasn't embarrassed any longer too cry in front of Alfred, for he wanted to comfort me. And then came the sobs. They were muffled my Alfred's shirt, and I was probably getting my spit and tears all over him, but Alfred didn't seem to mind. His hand didn't move from my head.

Something changed that day. Something important changed. As if suddenly Alfred wasn't the jerk I knew him as, as if he cared. That I would be fine with him, like I was with Kiku. I mean, Alfred was no Kiku, not by a long shot. But he would watch out for me.

And I had too watch out for him. That's the way friendships work.

/**/

For the rest of that week, that month, that year, Alfred and I were close. Very close for that fact, Alfred even taught me how to play baseball. Well, sorta, he just threw the ball at me and I tried to hit it with some stick we found on the ground. Then I taught him about England's history, not that he cared very much. Alfred was then known as the kid who kicked Avery Pegnul (Who we found out was that seventh graders name) in the balls. He was worshipped as a hero, I think he enjoyed it. And for once, I didn't mind. That was no false bravery that he pulled, I know that now. And despite Alfred's new group of friends, Alfred always stuck right by my side. We held hands throughout the halls and always sat and played together at recess. Kiku and I still called each other of course. Kiku emailed me pictures of his new middle school.

Courtney heard about the story as soon as she got into school Alfred told her the whole thing, exaggerating a little, maybe. "Like, I kicked him in the crotch and totally saved Arthur from being dragged into Seventh Grade hell! And then the brown-haired one came running at me and I took him down with my manly heroic powers, and all the girls started cheering me on!" Alfred did a ton of hand motion when he told this story. He reminded me of talking about Odysseus taking down the Cyclopes. Courtney hadn't believed him of course and I told her the true story, besides for my tears and Alfred's comfort.

Thats when I joined the neighborhood kids group. It started to get cold now so we usually played inside, which decreased my chance of getting hurt. I would only go over if we went over Alfred's, Henry's or Zach's house though, they were the only two with decent homes.

I was not fond of Henry. Not one bit. He was a pretty big bully, but he seemed to stop messing with Alfred after that incident, So I have built in protection from Alfred.

It always smells of hot chocolate in Henry's house. I've gotten to know the boys better, even though I stay away from Henry as much as possible. I usually just hide behind Alfred when i'm somewhere other than his house.

Henry's house was small, it was three floors counting the basement. So was mine, but it was just tiny. We played in the basement a lot, which sucked, because it smelt strongly of cigars. The carpet was wiry too and we usually ended up with rugburn in five different places. There was a computer in his basement, which is the main reason why we went down there.

Henry being a year older than I, (and I was a year or at least six months older than all the rest of the boys) we usually listened to him like he was a preacher. Sometimes I could tell truth from reality with him if what he was saying was totally off the wall, but most of the time his words seemed very real. So, this new thing he had introduced to us was hard to swallow.

Alfred and I had been sharing a juice box, we shoved two straws into the juicebox hole and slammed our faces together to drink it. Alfred also has very long eyelashes that usually tickle my cheeks when our faces get too close. That's when Henry pulled up something I had never seen before on the google.

"Behold!" He had yelled, sliding to the side with his computer chair, his arms spreading out. It was a lady, a naked lady. I shot a look at Alfred, then at everybody else, and they were all staring at it.

"Weird, man," Alfred said, shaking his head. That's what a girl looks like, naked? Ew, gross. The lady in the picture was blonde with mega-large breasts, and some blonde hairs covering her crotch area. I mean, I had an idea, but i've never seen a naked lady before in person. I stuck my tongue out.

"Where's her privates?" Zachary asked stupidly, but quietly. I tried not to look at the screen.

"There!" Henry declared, pointing to her crotch once again. I put my head in my hands quickly. "Girl's don't have penises, Zach, they have vaginas." Didn't everybody know this by now? My mom shields me from everything, but at least I know that.

"Oh speaking of naked things," Henry muttered, rubbing his hands together. His light brown curls were highlighted with the glint of the computer screen. "Does anybody know what a poofter is?"

We all shook our heads, mom has used that term before. She never actually told me what it was. I grew curious.

"Nah, what is it?" Josh said cheerfully, his chubby cheeks lifting up in a smile. Henry paused to type something in, and we all watched patiently. He then slid to the side for us to see what he clicked on.

"Dude! Ah, What the hell?" Alfred shrieked, covering his eyes. My eyes stretched twice their size. It was two men, doing, it? Like, sex? I think thats what they're doing. One of their penises was going up the other ones butthole, and the position, woah. All the body-hair too. That's what a poofter is?

I jumped off the couch and stepped closer to the computer screen. "Woah." I muttered, Henry watching me closely.

"I know, right?" Henry laughed. I nodded and crept back to my spot next to Alfred on the couch. He was still covering his eyes.

"Thats a poofter, some guy who finds another guy attractive or something!" Henry said matter-of-factly, raising his index finger. "Gross, right? Another term for it is faggot."

Zach crossed his arms and mumbled something quietly. He looked angry, Zach's never angry. Zach's the shy tall kind who rescues injured animals from his garden, I swear he's a disney princess sometimes.

"What was that?" I asked kindly, turning towards Zach. I had to rip my eyes away from the screen to not look.

"It's called being gay, Henry," Zach said, but he looked at me. I felt as though Zach trusted me somewhat. "And it's not bad to be gay." Zach blew a strand of wavy, orange hair from his mouth.

"How do you know, asshole?" Henry shouted. Zach shrunk back down to his shy self. Henry uses big kid swears a lot, it makes me feel nervous.

"I uh, my sister's gay. The old one," Zach shuffled around, "Her girlfriend makes good cookies."

"But being gay is for guys!" Henry whined.

"It works for girls too," Zach murmured, turning his head, therefore ending the conversation.

"The girls must be hot," Michael shouted, raising his hands above his head, "Do they make out and have sex a lot?"

Zach shook his head. Zach looked almost like Alfred when you got down to the strong features, blue eyes, blonde hair, were both tall and had smooth faces. But Zach was paler, everything about him was paler. His eyes were a very light, light shade of blue and his hair was orangish. He was also paler than me with small, faint freckles covering his cheeks. Zach wasn't social, but he wasn't mean. Just shy. "Not really," he muttered.

Alfred picked up his head from his hands. "Dude, that's so weird."

"So wait, Zach," I looked at him, and Zach looked at me, "They're in love. not just sex, right?"

"Of course!" Zach said quietly, "They love each other very much. It's like loving a girl, but its just the same gender."

"Gross," Alfred said, squeezing his eyes shut.

I got defensive, "It's not all that gross. It's who they love."

"Still." Alfred crossed his arms and continued to drink the juicebox.

"Wait, like, what do they do?" I asked Henry. Alfred snorted.

"I don't know," Henry said with a shrug, "Touch each others dicks all the time I bet. Gross." I looked at Zach, he seemed offended. I swallowed and positioned myself so I was lying on Alfred's lap.

We heard footsteps down the stairs to the basement, Henry quickly Xing out the page. I saw Henry's dad step down the stairs.

"Hey boys," His dad said. Henry's dad looked like him. A skinny nose with a fat tip, those tight light brown curls, big upper arms.

"Hey dad," Henry responded. I just watched him from my worms-eye-view from Alfred's lap. My fingers curled around his kneecap. Henry's dad was intimidating, just like Henry was. He was very sarcastic, but he seemed pressured, like he could snap like a twig. Which made it worse that when he smiled, his teeth were white and shiny, that made him look crazy.

"Hey mister Arcroff," Michael said, petting his short black hair, Henry's dad waved. "Whats a faggot?"

The world froze in those moments. Henry's dad froze, Henry face palmed, and I just watched them. Alfred stopped sucking the last bits of juice from his juicebox. Henry's dad stared at Michael, who stared back clueless.

We all mentally sighed when Henry's dad smiled. "Well," He said, his voice deep. He looked around the room, "That." He pointed to Alfred and I.

"What?" Alfred shrieked, pushing me off his lap, "Am not!"

"Yeah... no way!" I added in nervously, sitting up. "And even if I was, not with him! Ew!" I crossed my arms and turned away from Alfred. We soon started giggling after. Henry's dad observed our small argument with a smile. A big, creepy smile.

Henry's dad laughed, "Don't ever become a poofter, boys."

We all nodded, but when I looked at Zach, his face was bright red. Once Henry's dad retreated upstairs, I told him that he was just kidding. I felt kinda bad for Zach, he was pushed around a lot.

Henry's lips cracked into a smile after a while. "Alfred and Arthur and faggots together!"

"Am not!" Alfred yelled, his face turning bright red.

"Are too," Henry purred.

"Am not!" Alfred and I both shouted this time.

Let me tell you, that was the start to something... Diffrent.

**/****/**

Hey-yo new chapter wooh

I'm actually in love with Zach's character way too much. He's probs going to play a more important role later on (*likehelpingArthurwithgayproblems).

I had so much fun writing about the seventh graders holy crap


End file.
